Abandonded children in Zuid Holland early 1800s

Abandonded children in Zuid Holland early 1800s

While researching some of my husband's Dutch ancestry, I came across a couple of families that had many children. Some of those children were listed as abandoned and died within the year.

At first I thought that the father or both parents had abandoned them, but with further study noticed that the couple continued to have children, about every other year, and abandoned many of them. I was horrified.

Is there an explanation as to the cultural attitude that allowed this? Were the parents too poor to feed them? Who then cared for (or attempted to care for) the abandoned children? Or were they left to die?